The Yuba County Five

Jack Madruga, Ted Weiher, Jack Huett, Bill Sterling, and Gary Mathias were five friends from Yuba City and Marysville, California, often affectionately called "the boys." Despite being adults, they bonded through their basketball team for the mentally impaired and frequently took trips to watch games. In 1978, during one of these outings to Chico, they mysteriously disappeared. Their car was later discovered abandoned on a remote mountain road nearly 90 miles off course, stuck in light snow-odd, considering five men should have easily freed it. Even more puzzling, they had seemingly crossed into another town and headed into the mountains during a snowstorm for no clear reason.

Investigators found eerie signs suggesting a deeper mystery. Inside the car were gas station snack wrappers and maps, but no serious attempts to survive. Witness Joe Shores reported seeing a group resembling the boys, and perhaps a woman with a baby, that night, illuminated by headlights-possibly Madruga's car-but they ignored his calls for help. Later, Ted Weiher's body was found emaciated and frostbitten in a nearby forestry station stocked with enough supplies to sustain all five for a year. Yet bizarrely, the generator for heat was never turned on, and Weiher was missing his shoes. The bodies of Madruga, Huett, and Sterling were located nearby, having succumbed to the freezing conditions.

Gary Mathias, who had a history of schizophrenia and past drug problems but was reportedly stabilized on medication, was never found. Conflicting reports question whether he had his medication with him that night, adding more uncertainty to the tragedy. To this day, no one knows why the group abandoned their car, why they made such a drastic detour into the wilderness, or what exactly happened during their final, desperate days on the mountain.

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